he demonstration was a part of the Afghanistan day of action called by Stop the War, and comes at a time of increasing public concern over the war, with a recent opinion poll showing over 70% of the UK population in support of a phased withdrawal of troops within a year.

Around 50 people with placards moved onto the roadway where they lay down, chanting slogans against the war for more than ten minutes, while police stood and watched from a distance, stopping traffic from bearing down on them. The protesters then got up and marched around the square, where one or two impatient drivers actually drove into some of the protesters and the media covering the event, but fortunately there were no casualties.

The protesters then marched up Whitehall to the gates of Downing Street, now protected by a small fence a little in front of them. There was a further noisy demonstration there, with several short speeches, as police looked on, forming a line to protect the fence, which lasted around five minutes.

As the protest finished, a police inspector came to warn the students that their peaceful protest was breaking the SOCPA law, which prohibits protests on the pavement in front of the gates to Downing St, as well as the use of megaphones in the whole Westminster area and unauthorised protests in general.

More pictures on Demotix:
 http://www.demotix.com/news/afghanistan-die
and later on My London Diary:
 http://mylondondiary.co.uk